The present invention relates to a manufacturing technique of a semiconductor device in which, for example, plasma processing is performed on a semiconductor wafer.
An etching device referred to as a polysilicon etcher is known as a plasma etching device to be used in the processing of the gate electrode of a semiconductor device. In the polysilicon etcher, etching processing is performed in a state where a semiconductor wafer (a semiconductor substrate, hereinafter also and simply referred to as a wafer) is adsorbed and held to a stage mainly by an electrostatic chuck system.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 9(1997)-260475 (Patent Document 1) discloses that a wafer is adsorbed and held by an electrostatic chuck system and charges are neutralized by inert gas ionized by a UV light irradiation apparatus.
In addition, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-165726 (Patent Document 2) discloses that a wafer is adsorbed and held by an electrostatic chuck system and static electricity is neutralized by an ionizer.